What is Mobile Marketing?
Mobile marketing encompasses promotional activities targeting products and services via mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. Leveraging modern mobile technologies, including location services, it tailors marketing efforts to an individual’s whereabouts.
It represents a technological avenue for delivering personalised promotions to users consistently connected to networks.
Key points:
- Mobile marketing utilises mobile devices for promotional activities, including text promos and app notifications.
- Audience segmentation in mobile marketing is behaviour-centric rather than demographic-based.
- It operates within the broader domain of mobile advertising.
- Privacy concerns arise from data collection practices in mobile marketing.
- Compared to traditional TV and radio advertising, mobile marketing offers more cost-effective solutions.
Understanding Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing encompasses a range of promotional methods, including SMS text messaging, MMS multimedia messaging, push notifications via downloaded apps, in-app or in-game marketing, mobile websites, and QR code scanning.
Proximity systems and location-based services can alert users based on their geographic location or proximity to a service provider.
Given the ubiquity of mobile devices, mobile marketing has become indispensable for companies of all sizes. The primary stakeholders in this arena are the brands themselves, along with the service providers facilitating mobile advertising.
Mobile advertising primarily targets audiences based on behavioural patterns, although demographic factors such as age and income level also play a role; for instance, iPad users generally skew older and wealthier.
A significant behaviour in mobile marketing is “snacking,” where users engage with media or messaging briefly, providing multiple touchpoints for marketers seeking instant engagement.
Device characteristics, notably screen size, significantly influence user responses to mobile marketing. For instance, smartphone users often prefer informative content, while iPad users are drawn to interactive advertising featuring rich media presentations and visually compelling imagery, with the message often taking a secondary role.
Mobile Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing
Mobile marketing distinguishes itself from traditional approaches by capitalising on the constant presence of mobile devices among users, who carry them wherever they go. This enables location-based services to gather customer data and deliver tailored coupons, deals, or promotions based on their proximity to a store or frequented locations.
Such campaigns are highly targeted and individualised, thereby offering greater efficacy for the marketing company. For instance, a campaign might automatically send food-related coupons to a customer whenever they approach within half a mile of a specific supermarket.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Marketing
Advantages
When it comes to online advertising, mobile marketing stands out for its accessibility. It doesn’t require advanced technology or extensive technical expertise to initiate, and measuring the success of mobile marketing campaigns is comparatively straightforward.
Here’s a statistic underlining the effectiveness of mobile marketing:
89% of marketers who reported an increase in sales after leveraging location data to enhance ad campaign effectiveness.
Moreover, mobile marketing proves highly cost-effective, with a range of budget-friendly options available. Its impact, when weighed against the cost, is significant. In a typical comparison, social media ads are notably more economical than purchasing ad space on radio or television.
Another advantage is the ability to reach customers in real-time, regardless of their location. Unlike radio or television marketing, which is effective only when customers are in front of the TV or have the radio on, mobile marketing ensures continuous engagement with customers wherever they may be.
Disadvantages
Privacy concerns loom large over the utilisation of data collected by mobile devices, raising questions about companies’ rights to gather such data without explicit consent. Misuse of this data could lead to identity theft or spamming if it falls into unauthorised hands due to data breaches or inadequate security measures. Additionally, some may view the tracking of individuals’ locations and movements as an invasion of privacy.
Mobile marketing can also raise costs for users, posing as another drawback. For instance, directing users to data-intensive videos within a campaign could exhaust their monthly data allowance or incur additional charges if they lack an unlimited data plan.
Moreover, mobile marketing demands precision from the outset. With users having shorter attention spans and numerous competitors vying for their attention, a subpar mobile marketing strategy risks failing to capture a user’s interest and may even alienate them permanently. Hence, there’s little room for error in crafting a mobile marketing plan.
Starting a Mobile Marketing Business
Establishing a Mobile Website
Given the pervasive use of smartphones, ensuring your website is optimised for mobile viewing is essential. If you already have a website, numerous companies provide automated tools to convert it for mobile compatibility. WordPress and GoDaddy are reputable examples offering such services.
Alternatively, some companies specialise in crafting dedicated mobile versions of websites, often referred to as plug-and-play platforms. For those comfortable with coding, implementing a responsive design using code to adapt the site based on the device’s screen size is another viable option.
Listing Your Business on Location-Based Platforms
Expanding your business’s presence on location-based platforms like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places widens its visibility and facilitates mobile ad campaigns. Foursquare, in particular, offers innovative promotional opportunities, such as incentivizing customer visits or “check-ins” with discounts.
Immerse Yourself
To gain a comprehensive understanding of mobile ad marketing, immerse yourself in the mobile user experience. Utilise location-based platforms, engage with various apps for payments, and explore advertisements. Performing voice searches and observing consumer behaviour firsthand will inform the design of your mobile ad campaigns.
Launch a Mobile Ad Campaign
Once your website is mobile-ready and you’ve grasped the dynamics of mobile ad marketing, initiate a campaign tailored to your business. Mobile ad campaigns are significant for garnering visibility; ensuring your business appears prominently in relevant searches, such as “best skateboard shops near me,” is important.
Payment structures for mobile ad campaigns vary, including flat fees for a specified duration, cost-per-click, cost-per-thousand impressions, or cost-per-acquisition. Major platforms like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Instagram provide avenues to launch your own mobile marketing initiatives.
Harness QR Codes
QR codes, compact square barcodes containing information, offer a straightforward means to promote your business. Placing QR codes in strategic locations allows users to scan them with their smartphone cameras, directing them to your website, promotions, or other pertinent information.
Examples of Mobile Marketing
Nissan
For its Rogue SUV, Nissan crafted the “Evil Snowmen” ad, featuring a video where the SUV battled a gang of snowmen. The ad included touchable hotspots that provided additional information about the SUV’s features, as well as weather and snow safety tips.
Pond’s
Partnering with InMobi, Pond’s developed an interactive ad for one of its acne products. When users looked at their phones, the camera captured their features and highlighted acne-prone areas. This ad did not require any software downloads or visits to external sites, offering a seamless user experience.
Ruffles
Faced with declining sales in Brazil, Ruffles targeted teenagers with interactive ads. They introduced a mobile reality game named AmiGo, where users played while their friends viewed the game through their camera. Friends could send voice commands to guide their friend on collecting virtual Ruffles chips, earning points for each chip collected. Ruffles showcased the highest-scoring users on its social media platforms.
Samsung
To promote its Galaxy S6 phone, Samsung collaborated with Indian tech firm InMobi to craft interactive ads. These ads featured a personalised, real-time battery identification mobile ad unit. When users’ battery levels were low, the ad displayed a demo of the product and service on their phones, emphasising the new phone’s “super fast charging capability” and enticing users to upgrade.
FAQs
What constitutes mobile marketing tools?
Mobile marketing tools encompass digital strategies that companies employ to engage their target audience across various channels accessible on smartphones, tablets, and other digital devices. These channels may include social media ads on platforms like twitter and instagram, as well as browser pop-ups.
Which free mobile marketing tools are available?
Some notable free mobile marketing tools include appsflyer, insider, branch, and clevertap. Often, these software options offer basic features at no cost, with more advanced functionalities available for a fee. They serve as an excellent entry point for experimentation without initial financial commitment.
What are the premier mobile marketing apps?
Top mobile marketing apps include Facebook Pages, WhatsApp Business, YouTube Studio, Instagram Business, and X (previously Twitter) for businesses.
What is the typical cost of mobile marketing?
The expenses associated with mobile marketing vary depending on the chosen platform and the duration of the ad campaign. Generally, mobile marketing is cost-effective, with ads often running for just a few dollars over a short span of time.
Conclusion
Mobile marketing offers a cost-effective means to connect with your target audience through smartphones, tablets, and other digital devices, reflecting the prevalent use of these platforms in today’s world. With its affordability, mobile marketing allows for precise targeting based on various inputs provided by the company.
DISCLAIMER: This article serves for informational purposes solely and does not constitute official business advice. AVANTE PARTNERS has no working relationships with any mobile marketing service or companies named.